NHL Lockout Morning Coffee Headlines – October 4, 2012.

Check out the latest NHL lockout news, including speculation the league could begin cancelling regular season games on Friday.

TSN.CA: The NHL continues to await a new CBA proposal from the NHLPA. No formal talks are currently scheduled. While the league has no formal timetable to begin cancelling regular season games, with the regular season set to begin on October 11 and training camps cancelled, it’s unlikely the two sides will have an agreement in place before then. Meanwhile, the league’s COO met with representatives from “Molson, Canadian Tire, Sport Chek, Kraft, Sirius XM and Scotiabank” to update them on the lockout and take questions.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Speculation has it the league will announce the cancellation of games (possibly the first two weeks of the schedule) on Friday, which is traditionally a “dump day” for bad news, especially when it leads into a long weekend.

Could another lockout hamper St.Louis’ Hall of Fame chances?

ESPN.COM: Craig Custance reported on how the lockout is leaving NHL coaches “stuck in standby mode”, evaluating talent on the farm clubs of their respective teams, and also speculated on how the NHL would stage the 2013 entry draft if this lockout kills the entire season, wondering if it would employ a draft lottery as it did back in 2005. Neil Greenberg, meanwhile, speculated on how another lost season might affect Hall of Fame cases, like Tampa Bay’s Martin St. Louis or Buffalo’s Ryan Miller, as well as longtime NHL veteran defenseman Sergei Gonchar and forward Dany Heatley.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Regarding the 2013 NHL entry draft, Custance indicated in his article the league hasn’t yet given consideration to how they would run it in the wake of another season killing lockout, but I expect it will employ another lottery system.

No Winter Classic at the Big House in January?

DETROIT FREE PRESS: Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon expressed concern over whether the Winter Classic, set to be played on January 1 at Michigan Stadium, will take place or not.

THE GLOBE AND MAIL: Eric Duhatschek suggests the NHL owners should start listening to the players, noting the league would’ve been better off had it adopted some of the PA’s suggestions during the last lockout.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: The league negotiators and the team owners have shown no inclination to listen to the players in the past, so I doubt that’ll change this time around. As I’ve constantly pointed out, they’re very short-sighted, and very competitive, which is why they exploit loopholes in every CBA to their advantage, then complain they’re paying the players too much.

“We use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our Website. These companies may use information (not including your name, address email address or telephone number) about your visits to this and other Web sites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, http://www.networkadvertising.org/managing/opt_out.asp
“Partner of USA TODAY Sports Digital Properties”